Cactus Rose residents accept relocation deal to pave way for new development

Cynthia Martinez is a mobile home owner at Cactus Rose Mobile Home Park. When she found out she was going to have to move she says it was a horrible feeling

"First we were worried for our kids.  I was like 'Where are we going to go?'  And 'where are we going to move our home?'" Martinez said.

Developer Oden Hughes plans to build apartments and multi-use space on the 23-acre tract. More than 50 families have to move.  Martinez says Cactus Rose residents have been fighting for a good relocation deal over the past year with the help of a Montopolis neighborhood group.

"If you go to a normal person they don't know what zonification is, they don't know what gentrification is.  And it's going on here," she said.

Council member Pio Renteria says some of the residents took the first deal they could.

"When the developer, they offered them relocation assistance and money they went ahead and took it.  And they didn't wait until the final outcome so...my understand is about a third of the residents remain there and they got a lot better deal than the rest of them did," Renteria said.

So how much is the Oden Hughes deal?

RV owners and renters will get $2,000 and mobile home owners get $10,000.  They'll also get their security deposits back along with bilingual relocation assistance. 

Martinez says they have to be out by next summer and she says residents know where they're going thanks to the developer

"They actually went out and found some mobile home parks around within a 2-mile radius.  So we're going to stay in the same community as well which is awesome," Martinez said.

Martinez says the problem with moving is most of the mobile homes are too old to move.  She says they're also getting a special rate on buying newer mobile homes.